For months, blogs have speculated about Urban Compass, the well-funded New York tech start-up that hired Citi Habitats veteran Gordon Golub earlier this year. But so far, founder Ori Allon has remained notably silent on what exactly the real estate–related venture will do when it launches in beta next month. Now two new announcements from the company provide further hints.
First, Bill Rudin, CEO of family real estate dynasty Rudin Management, has been named as one of the company’s investors. Rudin, whose real estate portfolio comprises over 14 million square feet of residential and commercial space, was listed on Urban Compass’s website as an investor last month. Allon declined to specify Rudin’s capital contribution to the company. So far, Urban Compass has raised $8 million in total seed funding, with other investors including Kenneth Chenault, the CEO of American Express, and Cyrus Massoumi, the CEO of the medical booking service ZocDoc.
Meanwhile, Allon told The Real Deal that he is actively recruiting residential real estate brokers to join the company as “neighborhood specialists.” While Allon would not specify exactly the role these brokers would play in the company, nor exactly what Urban Compass itself does, he said applicants must be knowledgeable about Manhattan neighborhoods, and would be paid a salary and receive equity in the newbie company. These neighborhood specialists will not be paid a commission, so Urban Compass is “looking for brokers that have their best days when they simply make their clients feel great about the service they received,” Allon said.